Race Recap – 2014 TinkerBell Half Marathon

Ok, so the race recap is a bit late, but I figure that in chronicling my journey, I have to start at the beginning. So much of my training is a hazy memory – but I completely remember this race experience. I should, after all it is what I credit for turning me into a “Real Runner”.

I picked a great race for my first race, I admit. I found copies of previous TinkerBell courses, and had them memorized, so after longer training runs, I could point out how far on the course I had gone. That was a huge motivation. I planned my costume. I trained, and trained, and trained.

I honestly had no idea how nervous I would be the weekend of the race. If you know me, I like to plan. I thrive on knowing what to expect and having a plan in place that take every possible scenario into account. In this instance I couldn’t. I had never done this before, and I was going into it completely alone. The nerves kicked in as soon as I picked up my bib and saw my first glimpse of the expo. There were so many people! I was really wondering what I had gotten myself into.

The day of the race, I was up at 3am to make sure I had to time to eat something (I tend to eat very light before a long run, and fuel throughout) and to make sure my ankles were taped. Once everything was in place, I headed out to take the shuttle over to the corrals. As soon as I got onto the shuttle, I realized the people who run in the runDisney races are pretty awesome people. So many people were encouraging when they learned it was not only my first half marathon, but my first race ever!

Corrals were big and crowded, but I have learned that is par for the course for a runDisney race. Being in the 2^nd to last corral, we had a nice warm-up walk once the race started, and we moved closer to our corral’s release time. I was excited to see WO and the kids right at the start line once we got there. Next thing you know, I was off and running.

I adored the course for the TinkerBell Half. I admit, there is a hill almost as soon as you start, but once that was behind us, we were headed down Harbor Blvd and into the parks! This is one of the things I was looking forward to. This course had a ton of running in the park, which was a great distraction. It is tough in some areas, because the pathway really narrows down to the point you have to walk a few steps when you might not want to, but the sights and sounds are amazing. Cast Members are up and cheering you on, offering Mickey glove high fives and plenty of encouragement. And of course entertainment and characters galore! I knew I was starting out late because of my corral and I was still worried about getting swept, so I made a conscience decision to skip out on characters that had longer lines. That was quite a few, including TinkerBell and Captain Jack Sparrow. But I still got quite a few pictures, both with the race photographers and selfies!

Personally, the route through the park was amazing. In all my training, I typically would need a short walk break every 2 miles or so. Not this time! Before I knew it, I had finished the park portion of the course, and was headed through Downtown Disney and out to the streets of Anaheim, which was mile 6! The only walking I had done was through the water stations, and was averaging under a 12 minute mile.

Of course, I was ready for the mental game that I knew was coming. The 2^nd half of the course was nice… through a couple of residential areas, as well as Downtown Anaheim before we headed back towards Disneyland. The hardest part was running down Harbor Blvd andseeing the parks, only to realize we were at mile 9, and there was still a slight detour to take before we were really headed toward the finish line! I personally got a boost at mile 11, WO and the kids walked over to catch me one more time before the finish line. Seeing them there for me helped get me over that hump. Plus made me realize that I *might* be able to finish at a time that I never imagined I could… 2 hours and 45 minutes!

The last mile was backstage in California Adventure, and while I was coming through, I caught sight of WO and the kids again, heading back to the Finish Line area. I kept pushing, hoping to break that 2:45 I had gotten in my head. I had taken a couple of pictures with mile markers, and was very tempted to take one with the marvelous 13^th mile marker, but at that point didn’t want to lose any of the momentum I had going for me. I crossed the finish line strong and was amazed that not only did I do it, I did it faster than I thought I could (final time was 2:48:48) By the time the finisher medal was around my neck, I knew I was hooked.